Customer Reviews

Franklin Flyer

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nicholas Christopher has done it again. He has created an intriguing tale, well drawn characters and a wonderful vacation from reality - all of which make for a fabulous, can't put it down kind of read.

This book follows Franklin Flyer, named after the train he was on that crashed when he was a newborn, from 1939 through to the later years in his life. From New York City to Europe and back. Each chapter is a year in Franklin's life and each year brings new and interesting characters and exploits.

The first chapter introduces you to Franklin and quickly sucks you in, giving you some enigmatic thoughts to keep in mind while reading the book. Christopher once again delves into the topics of fate, destiny and luck and manages to wrap up each and every question and plot line that he introduces Franklin and the reader to. While not as spellbinding as his previous novels, Veronica and A Trip to the Stars, Franklin Flyer is certainly worth reading and enjoying.

The third novel from Nicholas Christopher, Franklin Flyer is another wonderful story of character and powerful ideas. There is such a sense of completeness to the book I'm thinking about starting all over again for a second shot of experience. Everything seems to be interconnected in our lives, everything and everyone matters on some level. Franklin Flyer (the person) has a wonderful sense of wanderlust and powerful ideas of invention. Franklin Flyer (the book) sets a tone of poetry and depth of character within the pre and World War II United States and Europe. There is mystery here. There is romance here, although it is less romantic than emotional. Franklin Flyer sits just this side of mystical, but remains well grounded and ultimately complete. Strongly recommended...

At one point in the picaresque journey of Nicholas Christopher's Franklin Flyer, he takes a job creating heroes for pulp-fiction magazines of the Depression era. This is perfectly appropriate because Flyer himself eventually becomes such a heroic figure himself, working as a spy for the OSS during World War II, when he's not becoming a tycoon, inventing a paint-mixing machine, engaging in hand-to-hand combat, dabbling in Ancient Egyptian mysticism, or looking for a mysterious woman in a photograph--all the while keeping a firm hold on his yellow fedora (yes, that fedora--the one on the front cover).

Christopher's fast-paced tongue-in-cheek homage to the genre is 180 degrees from his previous novel, the long, languid, "A Trip to the Stars," and maybe it doesn't measure up to that masterpiece.

But it's definitely a fun, provocative read, and it will keep you out of mischief for a couple of days.

I loved one of Nicholas Christopher's other books, A Trip To The Stars: A Novel. It was a complex book that was moving, beautiful and thoughtful. It used the repetition of images and reoccurring themes to create a rich, interweaving tapestry.

I read "Franklin Flyer," hoping it would be equally incredible. It didn't live up to my high expectations.

This is not to say that "Franklin Flyer" is a bad book. Some of its images have stuck with me, and continue to live in my mind. I also appreciated that, as in "A Trip To The Stars," images, themes, and people reoccur throughout the book, giving the impression that everything in Franklin's life (and perhaps the world overall) is interconnected. In general, I enjoyed the first half of the book, which tells the rags-to-riches story of an inventor with wanderlust.

But, for me, after Franklin becomes wealthy, the book begins to fall apart. I think my complaint really comes down to this: I just didn't care about Franklin's involvement in World War 2.

I can try to explain why I didn't: While there were some tense, interesting, and moving scenes, the story seemed very haphazard. There was an incredible diversity of characters, locations, missions, and kinds of interactions, and I didn't get the impression that everything added up. While the book's reoccurrence of themes, images, and characters still gave me the impression that everything in life is interconnected, they failed to make the book, itself, completely satisfying.

I'll freely admit that I might be alone, in seeing the book like this. And again, I do acknowledge that this book has a great number of merits. But it still falls far short of Christopher's other work, "A Trip To The Stars." Perhaps, if I hadn't read "A Trip" first, I might have rated "Franklin" better. I'm clearly judging it in contrast.

My husband and I both really enjoyed this book (i.e. it will appeal to both men and women). It's a nice change of pace from the same-old, same-old. Great characters and an episodic plot as incredible, quick-paced, and satisfying as the pulp comics that Franklin gets his start in. Good and evil are pretty black and white here, but Christopher's ultimate outlook on life seems as sunny as Franklin's yellow fedora.

I just loved this book. Christopher's style is crisp, cleasr and compelling. You're never quite sure where the story is headed but suspensefully, it takes you along for the ride. The ending is wonderfully satisfactory. A great mixture of history, fiction and a touch of sci-fi.

Franklin is an everyman hero. I was surprized at how much I related to him personally.

This book expands on some of the themes of Christopher's previous novel, A Trip To the Stars - namely fate,destiny, chance and all that - while introducing another: personal and metaphysical transformation. Think Ovid and Heraclitus (i.e. everything eventually changes into its opposite) with some ancient Egyptian religion added for some creepy atmosphere. This novel is beautifully written. It's also obscure. But you'll love the journey, from the moment Franklin's yellow fedora flies through an office window, to the book's coda, which takes place almost a century later. Throughout the book, characters appear in different guises, motivations change, and people are evidently reborn. If you enjoy books such as Helprin's Memoir of Antproof Case, as well as Chistopher's ealier works, you'll definitely enjoy this.

Franklin Flyer is composed with shallow plots and minimal character development akin to the ideas behind 'March' or 'Gob's Grief' maybe even 'The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay' but the story was executed poorly and hardly worth finishing. Not at all as magical or gripping as it claims.

This was the first Nicholas Christopher book I read, and as I was about to leave feedback for another of his books - VERONICA - I noticed there were only 8 reviews for this book! So...I felt it just to leave something here instead, because Mr. Christopher's books have definitely given something to me. FRANKLIN FLYER, in short, is a magical, imaginative treat. It's a journey and escape, and the characters are very colorful and unique, as they traverse along an intricate plot line! I highly recommend this book, as well as VERONICA! I've just ordered, A TRIP TO THE STARS. Besides F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nicholas Christopher is the only other author for whom I have sought out and purchased multiple books. I am not comparing his writing to Fitzgerald, but perhaps it is the sheer and wondrous imagination that has drawn me in, since Fitzgerald's imagination was equally wondrous. Thank you, Nicholas Christopher...

I just loved this book. Christopher's style is crisp, cleasr and compelling. You're never quite sure where the story is headed but suspensefully, it takes you along for the ride. The ending is wonderfully satisfactory. A great mixture of history, fiction and a touch of sci-fi.

Franklin is an everyman hero. I was surprized at how much I related to him personally.